So, this is kind of cool. I got a tip yesterday from an anonymous source that he had test footage of the Thundercats CGI-reboot film. Upon further questioning, homeboy sent over the footage, and it checks out (Warner Bros logo and everything). But before we get to the video, let’s go back to 2007, when Variety broke the news of the reboot. At the time, Jerry O’Flaherty, art director Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3, was to direct the movie. Then, in 2009, Movieline posted some leaked concept art of the film. As of now, the film has been put on hold, but a new TV series is scheduled to drop this year.
Now, for what you’ve been waiting for. The video is included here. What do you think? Personally, I was never a Thundercats kind of guy, but I would go see this movie. I honestly have no idea how old this footage is, though. So the movie could be completely changed by the time it releases (if at all). I’ll keep my ear to the ground about any new developments.
I dunno - it’s not too bad. Although that Slithe design is just rubbish - the Lion-O look/voice is fine. But I prefer the look of the new series, to be honest.
I believe that this is legitimate - the character design for Lion-O is a perfect match to the one that was revealed, the whole thing looks like I was expecting the movie to look, plus I’ve seen storyboard artwork of this sequence posted up to DeviantART by the storyboard artist who worked on this sequence. So yeah, I think this is legitimate!
I personally don’t care for it, but will say in fairness that the “Thunder…Thunder…ThunderCats Ho!” sequence did touch an emotional nerve, LOL!
I’ve seen this on Manny’s TCN website, and I just could not believe what I saw. Lion-O behaving like a teenaged jerk on steroids? What would have come next, Lion-O joyriding in a stolen space car and drooling after every female Thunderian he saw? If this is what Warner Brothers had in mind, then I’m relieved that the movie never got made. It would have been an insult to us older T-Cat fans and a box office disaster; I can pratically hear the drubbing that every film critic on the planet would have given it. :sneaky:
Lion-O did start out quite arrogant up until the trials. Part of the charm of the classic series was watching Lion-O mature and learn. This clip appears to be Lion-O after landing on Third Earth. It immediately reminded me of Exodus.
I really liked the realistic CGI look and environment, but the Lion-O character itself not so much. Instead of live action, still think a CGI ThunderCats feature film is very much possible while keeping the classic look of the characters as close to the original as possible.
That was epic! I am one of the few who loves this…I would have actually prefered this to the new cartoon! Only thing is Lion-O should have a more human looking nose, thats it. The rest was awesome.
I honestly don’t know what to think here. But I am severely leaning towards thinking this is a fan-made video, for several reasons.
#1. I am a HUGE Gears of War fan, which the director for the movie was supposed to be Jerry O’Flaherty. Jerry was art director for Gears of War. Now I know the two have little in common, but this animation sequence didn’t have that quality of feel. There are clips on YouTube of cutscenes from the game, but as it is rate M, I don’t think it would be wise to link directly to them. Anyone who wants to search for a specific one, look for Kim vs Raam.
#2. The music for this clip reminds me of the TMNT CGI movie, to the extent I would have to watch that movie just to prove to myself this audio isn’t from that.
#3. Why didn’t the Sword growl to warn of danger? Why didn’t Lion-O call for it to come to his hand? Why does Lion-O only say “Thunder” twice before “ThunderCats Ho!” In other words, this clip gets far away from the mythology of the original series.
#4. Is this supposed to follow the story of the leaked script? I may have missed it, but I don’t recall Lion-O and Slithe having a meet & greet to introduce themselves. Therefore how did Lion-O know Slithe’s name? I also don’t recall an encounter like this in the script.
At this point, I have the opinion that this was either made by a fan who saw the same storyboard as He-Fan and LiarDice Films, or it was made “just for fun” after the movie was canned by someone who had been working on the project. I could be wrong, but that’s just how I feel about it, and I am very glad this style didn’t make it to production…
Man, its all really in the voice acting. At first I thought it was horrid, but then I went back and listened to it again and the line about him being prepared for S-s-slithe, but not his stench…at first I thought that totally didn’t fit into Thundercats.
But, then I imagined the line had Larry Kenny said it, and its absolutely something that Lion-O would have said in the RBTC series.
Honestly, aside from the VERY liberal approach they took with the character designs, the only thing really wrong with this scene Lion-O’s voice actor just doesn’t have the chops Kenny did. Kenny could take an utterly ridiculous line and make it fit perfectly in with his tone and inflection.
Whoever this was, couldn’t capture that same magic. With a better qualify voice actor (and S-s-slithe not looking like a Warcraft character) this would have been a pretty good sell IMO.
If I were a WB exec, I’d say go and change those two things, and then I would have green lit the project.
All those points are great, but I think one thing you aren’t considering is the price. Liars Dice himself said just making a short film is very expensive. This clip is only a couple of minutes long, but those aren’t cheap CGI effects they were using. Plus, despite how much I don’t think Lion-O’s voice actor was a great choice, those definitely aren’t amateur voices behind the characters.
If its fan made, its definitely someone with connections, as just your every day Thundercats fan I think would have a hard time putting that together.
I too will have to go back and re-read the script, but I’ve got to think its legit.
Yes, Lion-O was definitely full of himself at the start, and I completely agree that watching him grow up was the best part of the series. But the Lion-O we know and love never behaved like a complete jackass as is shown in the test footage, even before his Anointment Trials. And to be honest, I don’t know if it was Third Earth that Lion-O was on. It may have been, but it also could have been the area outside the Thunderian capital city, which was shown in the “Return to Thundera” episode from Season One.
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I don’t doubt that, Manny, but they should have done a better job with portraying Lion-O. At least they had Slithe pretty much like he was in the old cartoon series. Lion-O, however, acts like such an imbicile that it makes the young Lion-O in the “Exodus” pilot look mature. It was only test footage, granted, but it wouldn’t have hurt for them to make the grown Lion-O from the footage more like the grown one from “Exodus”. That’s what I’m saying.
With all due respect, I think your exaggerating a bit. I don’t think he was acting like a brat or ‘imbicile’ at all. You could tell he was scared but at the same time being confident that he is the lord of the tcats, just like the cartoon. The show boating at the beginning was done for himself, there was nobody around so he wasnt ‘showing off’.
I wish this movie would have been made. The new cartoon images make me cringe, this made me really excited.
